Under the Silver Lake
- Type: Movies & TV
- Age Category: Adults
- Genre: Comedy
- Recommended by: Lauren C.
- ISBN/UPC: 0031398292029 Check Catalog
Alfred Hitchcock, John Waters, and "The Big Lebowski" combined
The lascivious, dopey hero (Andrew Garfield in a game-changing performance) of this noire suspense thriller--I mean dark comedy--is gullibly sucked in by conspiracy theories--or is he? Follow his adventure into the Hollywood underworld as he tries to solve his neighbor's disappearance that may or may not be tied to a serial dog killer. He unravels hidden messages, getting clues from increasingly unlikely sources all around him while the clock ticks--he has 5 days before he is evicted from his apartment.
This movie is dark, and to categorize it as a comedy feels wrong, except that there are parts that are laugh out loud funny. (Just don't expect it to be funny in the way that a Judd Apatow movie is funny.)
This is definitely not a film for everyone, not that you are simply too plebeian if you don't like it: you need to be comfortable with the level of ambiguousness and unanswered questions this movie leaves you with. It makes you think. It's sexy, and then it makes you cringe.
This is not a movie most people would want to watch with their parents or kid brother. If you are concerned at all, you should know within the first 20 minutes if this movie is for you.
Other than the creativity, unique storytelling, visual weirdness, hidden messages and symbols throughout this movie that keep you guessing (there are a lot of sites dedicated to finding all the codes hidden Easter eggs in this movie), what I really enjoyed about this movie is that it had a message in it without being preachy: the exploitation of women.
People have commented on this movie that it is "misogynist" and they are completely missing the point. Moments of our hero's desperate voyeurism are met with reprisals that make our hero--and the audience--feel icky. Hollywood uses young women, and people use Hollywood to use young women. Even our hero's most noble intentions are powered by his lecherousness as much as his desperation.
Imperfect, but likeable, just like our hero.